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Comment by joemi | Hacker News Reader

FINALLY. Confusing version numbering always annoys me, and wifi's "n", "ac", "g", etc version names (combined with the easy to get wrong "802.11") have been one of the biggest offenders for a while. When a version number is a marketable metric, it should not be confusing.

Others notable offenders that jump to mind: the Xbox range (Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One X), iPhone SE and XR (since they break the pattern all the rest fit in).

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Add the "Pixel" range to confusing version numbering:

    "Chromebook Pixel" (a Chromebook released in 2013, commonly called just "Pixel")
    "Chromebook Pixel" (a Chromebook released in 2015, commonly called "Pixel 2")
    "Pixel" (a phone released in 2016)
    "Pixel 2" (a phone released in 2017)
    "Pixelbook" (a Chromebook released in 2017)

Or even worse, the Moto ranges:

    "Moto G" (a phone released in 2013)
    "Moto G" (a phone released in 2014)
    "Moto G" (a phone released in 2015)

Luckily, they have learned from their horribleness and now officially include the generation in the name, making their new naming scheme one of the best:

    Moto G5 (5th generation of their mid-range phone)

Compare with Nokia:

    Nokia 1
    Nokia 2
    Nokia 2.1
    Nokia 3
    Nokia 3.1
    Nokia 5
    Nokia 5.1
    Nokia 5.1 Plus / Nokia X5
    Nokia 6
    Nokia 6.1
    Nokia 6.1 Plus / Nokia X6
    Nokia 7
    Nokia 7 Plus
    Nokia 8
    Nokia 8 Sirocco

I have no clue what is what and it's confusing enough that I don't want to buy their phones even though one of them is most likely exactly what I want (high-range but not top-range phone that has stock or near-stock Android and receives updates quickly).

Maybe there's someone with a sense of humor there and Wifi 9 will be skipped as a dig at both Microsoft and Apple.

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10

iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X

Wifi 6, Wifi 7, Wifi 8, Wifi Ten

Well, I think they have already skipped 802.11ad which initially looked like a next version. Personally, I know only one router available to casual consumer made by Netgear [1].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#Standards_and_amen...

[1]: http://www.za.netgear.com/landings/ad7200/default.aspx

I was looking for an opportunity to say something similar. I didn't realize there was that much prior art!

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